Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

Chapter 47: Chapter 46: I Dare to Dream of 1 Billion

The next evening, Chen Yansen saw Meng Jie off at the bus.

”Be good and stay at school. When I get back, I’ll bring you some beef soup, Dajiujia, and youtiao wrapped in tofu skin...”

Meng Jie sat in her seat, her gaze downcast. A hint of reluctance colored her expression as she rambled on.

”What if you didn’t go?”

Chen Yansen smiled faintly and pulled her head close, whispering.

”I can’t do that! My mom misses me. It’s only for five days, and I’ll even come back early.”

Meng Jie nuzzled against him, her voice soft and gentle.

Her once-short hair now fell to her shoulders, and she looked even more refined and beautiful than she had just over two months ago.

’What a shame,’ Chen Yansen thought. He had planned on using the National Day holiday to get to third base with Meng Jie, maybe even score a home run. He never expected his future mother-in-law would miss her daughter so much and ruin his plans.

By the time he returned to school, night had fallen.

As he walked up to the second floor of the Innovation Park, he was taken aback for a moment by the dense crowd of people. Without a second thought, he squeezed his way through.

”Principal, that’s Chen Yansen!”

Guo Dongchen, standing at the edge of the crowd, pointed to Chen Yansen and made the introduction.

’The principal?’

Chen Yansen’s reaction was swift. He immediately put on an enthusiastic smile and strode over to the principal. With a calm and steady demeanor, he said:

”Hello, Principal Tang. Welcome to 206 here at the Innovation Park to check on our progress. Without your tremendous support, there’s no way our project could have progressed so smoothly...”

Tang Qingshan was over fifty, a man of medium build with his hair parted on the side. He bore a slight resemblance to the actor Tang Guoqiang.

Impressed by Chen Yansen’s eloquence and social grace, he clapped him on the shoulder. ”Chen Tongxue, I hear your startup is doing quite well. Why don’t you share some of your experience with the teachers here?”

Chen Yansen’s eyes quickly scanned the group. The people standing next to Principal Tang didn’t carry themselves like regular teachers. ’They’re probably the deans of the School of Business, the School of Arts and Humanities, and the School of Information Engineering,’ he guessed.

He wasn’t foolish enough to start singing his own praises. Instead, he said humbly, ”Principal, I’m only a freshman, what experience could I possibly have? Any meager success we’ve achieved is entirely thanks to Director Cao’s dedicated guidance, the special attention from the deans, and the excellent upperclassmen that our schools have produced...”

Had it been any other young person, even if they could have mustered the words, they wouldn’t have sounded nearly as smooth or natural as Chen Yansen.

Tang Qingshan froze for a second, unsure whether to be amused or exasperated.

’No wonder this kid has juniors and seniors working for him after only a month at the academy. Being able to pay them is one thing, but knowing how to handle people is something else entirely.’

’It would take an ordinary person three to five years to learn how to talk that smoothly.’

Over in the corner, Cao Dahua heard Chen Yansen mention his name and unconsciously straightened his spine. ’This kid gets it,’ he thought. ’That desk and water cooler weren’t a waste after all.’

”Tell us about your project.”

Tang Qingshan waved a hand, cutting Chen Yansen’s flattery short. He knew perfectly well that his ”help” had amounted to little more than a quick word with Cao Dahua.

’The kid managed to get this website up and running all on his own!’

”Of course, Principal!” Chen Yansen nodded, his expression growing serious. He led the group into Room 206. By the window, there was a 60-inch screen.

The only thing on it was a string of scrolling numbers: 57,483!

”Principal, our project is a new kind of e-commerce model. We operate by leveraging major B2C platforms. Users click our links, which take them to sites like Taobao, Jingdong, or Gome...”

”Basically, we’re an advertising platform. We sell traffic to e-commerce sites and then give a portion of our earnings back to the users, creating a win-win situation. In modern marketing, this is known as a CPS model...”

Chen Yansen explained with confidence and ease, showing no trace of nervousness or stage fright.

”And this number is?”

Tang Qingshan asked, pointing curiously at the number on the screen.

”That’s the current number of registered users. I estimate it will double again in the next three days. According to our original promotion plan, I intend to get the site’s DAU to one hundred thousand and our monthly revenue past ten million by the end of the year.”

Chen Yansen answered matter-of-factly, as if he were discussing something trivial.

’It didn’t matter whether Principal Tang believed him or not. As an entrepreneur, you have to be bold enough to sell the dream, regardless of whether you’re talking to employees or investors.’

The effect was immediate!

Even Zhang Wenbo and Xiang Pengfei exchanged glances, and in their minds, they began to re-evaluate the importance of Senhai in their own career paths.

’If Senhai really takes off, as long as we grow with the project, we could at least end up as supervisors or managers.’

100,000 DAU!

million in monthly revenue!

Tang Qingshan’s brow furrowed. The picture Chen Yansen was painting was a very appealing one.

If he could actually deliver, it would mean Xucheng Academy had a major success story on its hands in the realm of student entrepreneurship. That would be very compelling in reports to the higher-ups.

”Chen Tongxue,” Tang Qingshan said with a gentle smile, ”your project was incubated here at the Innovation Park. As your teachers, it’s only natural we provide you with some necessary help. What are you lacking most right now?”

’Money, of course!’

Chen Yansen thought, but he knew he couldn’t just say that. The principal was just making a casual offer; he had to give a casual response and try to get some practical benefit out of it.

”Principal, the project just launched, so we’re swamped. We’re finding it impossible to make it to some of our elective classes...”

Chen Yansen said after a moment’s thought, feigning hesitation.

The implication was obvious: ’Principal, I’d like some ’special privileges’—a license to skip class.’

”Teacher Guo, have a word with the faculty at the School of Arts and Humanities. Tell them to be a bit more lenient with Chen Yansen’s attendance from now on. His startup is a form of learning too, after all.”

Since it was such a minor request, Tang Qingshan agreed at once.

”Thank you for your understanding, Principal!” Chen Yansen responded with a light laugh. He then had Zhang Wenbo and Xiang Pengfei give a brief overview of the development process, giving them a chance to get some face time with the dean of the School of Information Engineering.

As they were leaving, Tang Qingshan instructed Cao Dahua, ”Teacher Cao, I want a research report on my desk after the holiday.”

Clearly, he planned to make Senhai the poster child for student entrepreneurship at Xucheng Academy. It would be something to boast about at future meetings with other university principals in the province.

After seeing off the big shots, Chen Yansen heaved a long sigh of relief, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

”Brother Sen, can we really hit ten million in revenue by the end of the year?” Zhang Wenbo, the earnest one, couldn’t suppress his curiosity and had to ask.

”Ten million? That’s nothing! I’m thinking more like a billion!”

Chen Yansen grinned, then turned to Song Yuncheng. ”Get me an ice cream bar. Chop-chop!”

When she didn’t move, Chen Yansen’s lips curled into a mischievous grin. ”You keep glaring at me, and I’ll dock your pay. You think I won’t?”

This trick was foolproof when it came to the money-minded Song Yuncheng.

”Yes, yes, Boss Chen!” Song Yuncheng ducked her head and got up with a sigh, obediently heading for the refrigerator.

The others chuckled, assuming Chen Yansen was just bluffing. Ten million was already an astronomical sum to them, to say nothing of a billion.

Since the National Day holiday was starting the next day, Chen Yansen arranged with Zhang Wenbo and Xiang Pengfei for each of their teams to leave one person behind to handle any emergencies.

At 7:00 PM, Chen Yansen glanced at his watch. Seeing them all still glued to their screens, he spoke up. ”Alright, everyone, head home. The voting event still has two days to go. Staring at the screen won’t change anything.”

”Brother Sen, we just want to see if we can break a thousand orders today!” Zhuang Rui replied with a grin.

”How many more do we need?” Chen Yansen walked over and sat down beside Zhuang Rui, his eyes on the screen. The backend showed 837 orders for the day, with a total sales volume of 26,365.5 yuan. The average price per order had just barely passed 30 yuan.

The best-selling item was a men’s short-sleeved t-shirt priced at 9.9 yuan. Thanks to the advantage of free shipping in coastal areas, 183 of them had been sold in a single day.

”Estimated gross profit is 6,318 yuan. Not bad,” Chen Yansen commented with a casual smile.

”But Brother Sen,” Zhang Wenbo asked timidly, ”our prize pool for the event is already up to 220,000.”

”Wenbo, that’s not how you should look at the numbers,” Chen Yansen explained patiently. ”You have to consider that this 220,000 yuan brought us over sixty thousand new customers. Besides, 99% of the ’winners’ won’t even meet the withdrawal threshold. They’ll either give up or have to place another order.”

”He’s right, Wenbo! Brother Sen and I did the math. At our current gross margin, the actual cost of this event will probably be less than thirty thousand.”

Zhuang Rui chimed in.

”Badass!” Zhang Wenbo praised, giving a thumbs-up.

”You guys carry on, I’m gonna head back and get some sleep.” Chen Yansen yawned, got up, and walked out.

The voting event’s results had far exceeded his expectations. Because of that, he’d been up all last night in front of his computer, selecting thousands of products from different categories and pushing them to the storefront with a single click.

Changing the titles and swapping out the images was a massive undertaking, too. He’d been busy until dawn before finally getting a short nap.

’Looks like I’ll have to hire some editors as soon as the holiday is over.’

’The girls from the School of Arts and Humanities would be a good choice. If I pick a few pretty ones with nice figures, it’ll probably motivate Zhang Wenbo and the rest of the tech guys to work even harder.’

Chen Yansen returned to Room 0418 and slept straight through until 9:30 PM. His stomach was growling, and he reluctantly dragged himself downstairs to find something to eat.

The campus was deserted, and he barely saw any other students on his way. In the cafeteria, only a single jianbing stall was still open.

With no other options, Chen Yansen wasn’t picky. He got a multi-grain crepe and wandered around campus while he ate.

Passing by the Innovation Park, he noticed the lights on the second floor were on.

’Probably Wenbo and Pengfei.’

Without giving it much thought, Chen Yansen headed up the stairs, but he saw that Room 208 was dark, while there was still one person left in Room 206.

”Hey now, you still here? Trying to trick me into paying you overtime again?”

Chen Yansen teased in a low voice as he crept closer.